Europe tightens broadcasting rules

European pubic broadcasters are unhappy with a rule that means new or significantly modified services must be evaluated in advance against criteria set in Brussels.
The rule is part of revised regulations on state-subsidized public service broadcasting finalized Thursday by the European Commission. Each year European pubcasters pull in €22 billion ($31 billion) in public coin. The evaluation is intended to ensure that new services comply with the broadcaster's overall public service mission, and that any impact on the market is balanced by public gain. European Broadcasting Union topper Jean-Paul Philippot argued that it would have been better to leave the choice of mechanism to national governments, which can respond to local social and cultural needs.